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First Tape

This interview was a good read. Loved how streaming is compared to be fed instead of going on a hunt to find something special

..when I was a teenager, I took the train to go to the record store to find rare stuff. Spotify is way more convenient, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to get out and to feel like you’re hunting, to feel like you’re living your life. I’m going to the movies, I’m going to this show. What streaming has done—it’s very convenient, but it’s taken the feeling of going hunting and turned it into we’re all just being fed. We’re all farm animals that are just being fed, and we’re being fed content. You can just stay home. Just stay home. We’ll just feed it to you. No wonder everyone’s depressed.

A few days ago at dinner with with a couple of old friends, we got chatting about the first LP or cassette tape we ever owned. Everyone has a story - that event is so memorable that it can be recalled effortlessly decades later. Today, no such "first" occurs in the life of a teenager. They are immersed in all kinds of sound through any number of online and streaming services. There is no distinct start - that one song, the one disc or tape. I am very glad I had experience my generation did - maybe teens today like it how they have it, prefer being fed than having to hunt.
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